Read Books This will provide a list of the books I've read with a brief review. Users are blocked, contact me for access. I welcome discussions, but I'm tired of spam.

This is the second book in the Broken Earth fantasy trilogy by Jamison. This book continues from where the first one ended seamlessly as if part of the same book.

This book follows Essun, who is [still] looking for her daughter and Nassun, the daughter, who is growing in strength and facing personal doubts. This book also follows the guardian Shaffa, who is undergoing his own transformations. Through his eyes we learn a lot more about the guardians.

Essun and How find themselves in a comm named Castrima with its own unique marvels telling of a former vast technology that is related to the obelisks. Essun is trying to come to terms with saving the world by capturing the moon as indicated by Alibaster at the end of the first book.

Through How, we learn a lot more about the stone eaters. How reveals a lot more of himself as we see him grow (?) or maybe just reveal more of himself.

The story is written well as Jamisin takes the reader through the well-developed world she has created. The series is enjoyable and compelling. I strongly recommend reading it in order.

The Fifth Season is a fantasy novel set in a similar world to our own. The world is a single continent with a few short-lived islands along its perimeter. The people’s technology is roughly equivalent to Roman equivalent, although their science is more advanced by a bit. Their society is fractured into villages, called comms, short for communities. These are tribal and heirarchical with people at the bottom working for the right to live within the comm.

They have a magic technology based on Earth science. Their practitioners, geomancers, can sense even the smaller movements of the Earth and, when needed influence them. So they can suppress earthquakes, stronger geomancers can influence volcanoes. This comes at a cost, they draw heat from life and earth around them creating a small frozen waste around them, thus they are shunned by society and forced into strict training.

The writing is odd – in a pleasant way. Most of the story is in third person with limited access to the thoughts of a couple of characters. One of the threads is told in second person, which feels weird, especially being inside the head of other characters. The writing itself is easy to read, the sentences are not very complex. The characters are complex enough to be interesting and make the story compelling.

The book includes a glossary at the back of thematic words used in the book, making a nice reference. I found it helpful early on. There is also a map of the continent in the front of the book.

The book is good. I kept looking for time to read more of it and am looking forward to the two other books in the series.